Vendakka Kichadi

Sunday Meal:
Vendakka Kichadi, Chavli-Tondlichi Bhaaji, Phulka, Rice and a new dessert.

Vishu is just over, I wished everyone at Aadiriyedath a happy new year. I've had Konnapoovu as my wallpaper the last whole week, my friend Seema was excited to see it on my laptop. The mood stayed and the weekend saw Kerala influenced meals.

This time I bought 1/2 kg of lady's fingers from the neighborhood Reliance Fresh. I wanted to stir fry them as we both love it. Then I remembered reading on Indian Food Rocks about Okra Kichadi from Ammini Ramachandran's book Grain's, Greens and Grated Coconuts.

Khichadi...na ..na...Kichadi everyone blundered. Taste it once and it will remain registered in your mind permanently as Kichadi. Seema loves to teach me Malayalam, so am sure she would have stressed Vendakka kichadi, Anjali.

I loved the Vendakka Kichadi. The flavor of pungent mustard sweeps your senses. As you get used to it and find the pieces of red chili smoked in the seasonings and you naturally tease it to bring out the red juices the kichadi takes a deeper dimension of a complex flavors as you mix it in with the hot steamed rice. I have seen very few recipes with character as the Okra kichadi with just the mustard, curry leaves, red and green chilies that make it so wonderful that you enjoy every morsel of rice blended with it.

I think the Bengalis will find the taste like home as they too use mustard as a dominating ingredient in their food. Whereas for a Maharashtrian it might take a bit of getting used too and will enjoy only if the mind is open. As a food blog writer I am not going to say no to anything as long as it is vegetarian. That's why I tried this one. Now you have two Marathis recommending it.

Some Malayalis outside Kerala are stuck on curd rice. Shame on them! ;)

Making here a log of the recipe and the things I did differently.

Ingredients

I halved the original recipe so here are proportions I used.

2 cups okra/ Vendakka - sliced to get the star shaped Okra, I used 15 nos.
2 cups freshly grated coconut - I used 1 cup
1 tbsp mustard seeds- I used 2 teaspoons but next time I think 1 would be enough for the halved recipe.
3 or 4 Thai green chillies or serrano peppers- Used 2 Indian green chilies
1 cup plain yogurt- retained 1 cup of curd to get more gravy.
Ammini's recipe suggests 1/2 tbsp oil - I skipped this.
salt to taste

For seasoning

1 tbsp oil - I used 2 tablespoons
1 tsp mustard seeds - retained this
1 dried red chili, broken into two pieces - used 2 nos.
12-15 fresh curry leaves

I cut up the Vendakka into stars measured in the cup it gave me a really heaped cup. Kept aside.

Meanwhile heated 2 tablespoons oil in a wok. Spluttered the 1 teaspoon mustard. Added the red chilies and curry leaves into the oil. Then in went the sliced starry starry Vendakka. Fried them nicely on high heat. They behaved themselves, no oozing just a bit browning and retaining their self respect. If fried more could have passed of a Bhendi stir fry with chapati. But then I had other plans.
So went ahead and blended the mustard seeds, curd, green chilies, grated coconut. Got a nice paste that was white with freckles of the mustard seed skin and a yellowish ting. Then added this paste to the fried Okra. Washed the blender jar clean of the paste and added the washings to the wok. Let is simmer for a while about 10 mins.

Adjusted the salt and tasted. I was unsure how it would taste. I loved the taste. No changes required, my taste buds were won over instantly. Thanks Ammini for the recipe and Manisha for featuring it.
In anticipation of the meal, I went around doing other things like making Phulkas, Pressure cooking rice and Chavli-Tondlichi Bhaaji. With so much done we wanted a desert too so experimented on that. Today's meal was something we enjoyed a lot for its diverse and distinct flavors.

Watch out for some posts that just might interest you as much as it interested me in the experiments in My Kitchen Lab.

Is This Still Olan?

How do you pronounce Olan? I asked Seema. Is it Ohlan OR Ohlaan OR as in Marathi AaLaN?

Ohlan is Olan!!! I found out.

Humm I had put the blackeyed cowpea for soaking in the morning before I left for work. At lunch time I was telling her about this Kerala Project. She said red cowpeas and white gourd/pumkin in coconut milk spiced only with green chilies and curry leaves is Olan.

I went home and decided I'll dump my bag at home first and then go down to the Fresh to buy white gourd specially for the Olan. Later I got lazy and thought anyways I have made an exception as I was using blackeyed cowpeas instead of the red so what's the harm in using some baby potatoes instead of pumkin or white gourd. That's what I did finally.

So it's now upto you to decide if this is still Olan? Well it's still simple flavours and the coconut milk I did use. I extracted it so give me a bonus point for it. In addition I used the true Keralite love the coconut oil to top it!

It is Olan atleast I think! What do you think? Let me know in the comments.

Ingredients

1/2 cup blackeyed cowpeas
6 baby potatoes
300ml coconut milk
2 green chilies
few curry leaves
1 tablespoon coconut oil

Soak the cowpeas for atleast 8 hrs in water.

In a pressure cooker boil the cowpeas and baby potatoes. Allow 3 whistles. Cool and then open the pressure cooker. Drain the cowpeas. Skin the baby potatoes.

Add the cowpeas, potatoes, green chilies back into the same pressure cooker. Add the coconut milk and let it simmer for 10 mins. Do not increase the heat as coconut milk cannot tolerate high heat.

In a small bowl heat the coconut oil till it starts smoking. Add the curry leaves and pour it over the Olan. Cover it immediately to retain the smoky flavor of coconut oil.

Olan is generally served with rice but I think it can be eaten with all types of dosas and appams like I did yesterday. Yes this is the invisible Olan I talked about here.

You have the blue blood Olan here @ Ammini's : Hey she uses blackeyed peas like I did !!
Bee and Jai's version with potato besides the gourds and blackeyed peas. Yay!!!
@ Ammupatti's: She makes it like it was described to me.

I Swear I Make Better Appams

and I shoot better pictures too.

Appams for dinner with Tomato bhaaji and Coconut Chutney and the invisible Olan

I am supposed to be celebrating Kerala here on my blogs but am so sorry have been knee deep in work so could not post much. I have decided to make up over the long weekend.

Appams to me bring back memories of looking out of our bedroom window in Fort, Mumbai. It opened out to the back sides of other buildings but luckily for us we were saved from getting free shows of bedroom scenes in other people's homes because there was this building which was pulled down by the demolition authority right till the ground floor. The top served like a terrace kitchen for the Keralite eatery it housed. Every morn this burly filthy Malbari would hook up his lungi and sit in front of atleast 10 coal fired sigrees with the most ugly looking appa chattis (woks). He would grease the appa chattis with an onion dipped in oil. Pour a cup of batter into it and swirl the chatti over his head or almost! Put it back on the fire and cover to cook. Serially he would complete this task. Then he would go back to the first one and start removing the cooked appams into a gindi/metal tub. Another guy would pick those appams ready for serving and run down to the eatery to put it on some homesick Keralite's plate. They would enjoy it with may be Kadala curry or Fish curry or Mutton curry oblivious of who made them and where!

I must admit I enjoyed the scenes and the whiffs of fermented batter cooking in the appa chattis but never dared to explore to the back lane to taste it. It was at my school friend Clotilda's ( she was a Mangalorean though) that I tasted Appams for the first time I guess with jaggery sweetened coconut milk.

I know my appams too well. They should be really lacy on the sides and a soft spongy lump in the center. As my eldest Uncle R would say, "Appam is the product of a love marriage between a dosa and a idli." LOL !!

Yesterday I made Appams for dinner with Tomato bhaaji, Coconut Chutney and Olan. They didn't turn out as lacy as they normally do and I hate to take pictures at night using flash and that reflects here. I swear I make better Appams and take better pictures too. You know it don't you? Ok atleast you know the better pictures part! I promise I'll post better picture with the laciest Appams.

Till then here is the recipe I follow.

Ingredients

1 cup raw rice
1 cup bolied rice
1/4 coconut grated
pinch of yeast
salt as per taste


Wash and soak both the types of rice together in water for atleast 4 hrs. Grind to fine paste in a wet grinder along with the grated coconut. Dissolve yeast in 1/2 cup water and add to the batter. The batter should be pourable consistency. Through out the night let it ferment.

In the morning add the salt into the batter and mix well.

Heat a non stick appam kadhai or wok. Add 1/2 cup of batter in it then with a deft hand swing the wok around to spread the batter along the curves. Keep it back on the heat. Cover with a lid and cook for 5 mins. The center should become shiny only then it is cooked and ready to be removed from the kadhai before you start again with the second appam.

Serve with any coconut milk based curry delicately flavoured or the full bodied Kadala curry depending on what time of the day you are enjoying the Appams.

Vegetable Stew

Yeah we love it. It is the mild taste of vegetable stew that I have now accommodated it in my brunch list. I like mild flavors for breakfast yet it still has not made it to the breakfast options simply because it takes a bit of hard work. I love coconut chutneys and coconut milk based curries but breaking the coconut and extracting the milk has always been Dad's job. As an exception I extracted the milk after he broke the coconut this one day. So as a favor I added some color to the stew by using tomato in it. Dad does not appreciate white curries so.

I remember a friend trying to decode vegetable stew when we were in school. Stew is mixed vegetable and potato cooked in coconut milk with whole spices and the special touch of smoking coconut oil.

Incase you are making stew for breakfast it is a good idea to cut the veggies and extract coconut milk at night itself.

Here is how I made the Ishtew as they call it in Kerala.

Ingredients

2 cups Mixed Vegetable cuts
2 tomatoes (Coz Dad likes it)
2 teaspoon coconut oil
2 cups coconut milk
1 green chili
4 cloves
1 inch piece of cinnamon
3 cardamoms
10 peppercorns
few curry leaves
1/4 teaspoon mustard seeds (accidental)

Heat a saucepan. Add the coconut oil. It should smoke add the whole spices, sliced green chili, curry leaves and immediately add the vegetable cuts. (I accidentally added mustard to the seasonings out of habit, purists please excuse me). Cook till tender or pressure cook. Once this is done. Add the coconut milk and simmer for 7-8 mins. Do not increase the heat as the coconut milk might coagulate especially when tomatoes are included. Put off the heat and serve warm with Idiyappams, Appams etc.

Subash and Ramesh tasted it from my lunch box. When it comes to praises Subash is always liberal. Hee hee with all the noises and action. I went uhh! at him as usual with a wave of the hand.

Stew on other blogs:

Valli's Kerala Vegetable Stew in Microwave!
Jugalbandi's Istu
Pachakam's Spicy Vegetable Stew

Instant Idiyappam & ....

Idiyappam & Vegetable Stew

In my recent visit to the supermarket I picked up a packet of Instant Idiyappams from Dhidheer (am not sure if I'm spelling correctly). This was the first time I tried Idiyappams at home that too instant ones. They are ready in a jiffy and oh so tasty. I picked this brand because they looked the most delicate among the other brands on the shelves in the store.

All you do is cut open the packet and empty in a pan. Pour boiling hot water over the Idiyappams and let them reconstitute for 5-7 mins. Drain them on a mesh and mix in grated coconut.


They are ready to be served. I made them on a week day and was my packed lunch along with vegetable stew. If the Idiyappams were instant the stew is not a thing for rushed mornings.

I had kept the packet aside to take picture for this post but when my Dad saw an empty packet lying around for more than two days. It went into the bin. So next time I buy again I promise to post a picture.

In Thrissur they are called Nool appams aren't they? Next time I'll go the traditional way.

A Kerala Fest

Purpose: This is to teach people to celebrate life. Own life.

Target date: 28th Oct 08

I am going to have a Kerala Fest going on both my blogs. I started on
Swachchanda with Visiting The God's Own Country with KTDC

Why? I am not telling yet. D is not telling either. Shhhh....

Conversations:

Me: What's your favorite food?

Looking away and smiling umm....nothing much.....

Me: U can't think of anything!!!(with my face contoured). I can count so many of my favorite and I am not even a Keralite!

I get some excuse that most Heads of Cook-up Ouch Experts are good at.

Me: May be I can count on all ten of my fingers your favorite food curd rice X 10 !!!

And then the mother of all dialogues "I eat to live not live to eat."


Very unlikely this is being read by the target audience so on 28th Oct these posts will be home delivered.

So my regular readers won't you guard my secret?

Links to :

Is This Still Olan?
I Swear I Make Better Appams
Vegetable Stew
Instant Idiyappam & ....

Inaugurations at Aadiriyedath

The hospital and special school

I had invited the Patron to my home. He came along with another trustee. It is such a pleasure to meet people with a passion. At 66 yrs, he could have chosen to sit back and enjoy a retired life among children and grandchildren. He still has fire and a burning passion to give back to society. May be in another post I should narrate the story of how this Illam (a Namboothiri Family Home) was converted to charity by one man's passion and an entire family's unflinching support.

With him he got along a CD with pictures of the inauguration and fliers to hand out to people I meet and talk to.

The institutions that are now functional are:

• Aishwarya School of Special Children (A home for mentally retarded, handicapped and orphans)
• Aadiriyedath Hospital and Research Centre (Ayurveda)

"These two institutions were inaugurated on 11th May 2008, by Mr. K Radhakrishnan, the Honorable Speaker, Kerala Legislative Assembly in the presence of Mr. Suresh Kurup, M.P. (Lok Sabha), Mr. Babu Balassery, MLA, Kerala Legislative Assembly in the august presence of many prominent persons." says the letter I received from the trust.

Mr. K Radhakrishnan, the Honorable Speaker, Kerala Legislative Assembly cutting the ribbon.

Right: Mr. Suresh Kurup, M.P. (Lok Sabha) ligting the lamp.

The audience

The pharmacy and the doctor

The Patron's address

I am thrilled to share that some family and friends have shown interest in this endeavor. We are planning a charity event soon with help from my friend Jyoti. So keep watching this space!

Banana Fritters

Banana fritters remind me of Periyar. A visit to the Periyar wildlife sanctuary is a must when you are in Southern Kerala. A dam was built across the Periyar river that caused some trees to be submerged in water and its a wonderful scene. The best way to explore the wild life sanctuary is by boat, floating slowly on the Periyar river that flows through the sanctuary. Especially the 4 o'clock ride. It is that time of the day when animals come to the shore for a drink. We saw herds of elephants, bisons, deers and cute little otters jumping into the the waters.

After the boat ride we then went to the nearby spice market. I shopped for a whole lot of spices that lasted me almost 3 years. Near the spice market was a quaint little restaraunt where we ate banana fritters that I enjoyed a lot and everytime I make my own I remember those fritters in Periyar.

Ingredients

1 raw banana
1 cup chickpea flour
1/2 teaspoon red chili powder
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
1 handful chopped cilantro
1/4 teaspoon cumin seeds
salt to taste

Oil to fry

Mix chickpea flour, red chili powder, turmeric, chopped cilantro, cumin seeds and salt with water to get a thick batter.

Peel and Slice the raw banana on a V-slicer using thick mode.

Dip the slices in the batter and fry in hot oil until crisp.

Serve with Ketchup or any chutney.

Kerala Paratha

An authentic Kerala Paratha is made with all purpose flour however an healthy option is making it with whole wheat flour, ofcourse that's what we have done here. This paratha is called Paratwala paratha in the north. Paratwala means layered and yes it is more delicious with goodness of wheat.

Ingredients

1 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup water
2 tablespoons oil
salt to taste

Remove all the ingredients on the counter and knead the dough. Let is rest for at least 10 mins. Then roll out 4 small chapatis. Lightly oil the chapatis and roll them up one by one. Divide the roll into six parts with a knife. Now take each piece and turn it to have the cut face up. Press it down to flatten it, dust with flour and roll out into thin parathas. Roast on a girdle with little oil. After roasting remove from girdle and crumple the paratha like a used paper but just lightly such that it should not break into pieces. This crumpling loosen the layers a bit and makes the paratha more delicious.

Click on the picture to see other recipes on the platter.

Pal Payasa

Last saturday the theme of the day at home was RCI Kerala . I made a Kerala meal and an evening snack of Banana fritters. It was a co-incidence that a procession passed my neighborhood celebrating a ratha yatra with a huge frame of Adi Shankaracharya on it and the women followed it singing Soundarya Lahri. I am not sure what festival they were celebrating but I was celebrating my love for Kerala and its people. Some of my closest friends are Mallus and I love to tease them with a Lal Salaam.

Dad had gone out for a while and I had my peace time making this elaborate meal of the Vegetable ishtew, Pal Payasa, Whole wheat Kerala Paratha and Crunchy Cauliflower.

Most people visit the usual tourist circuit of Kerala, it is no doubt beautiful but my favorite has to be Allepey, the backwaters, the houseboats and the wilderness. That is one Kerala that everyone knows. I was lucky to go to another part of Kerala called Kasargod. This is amazing topography, the hills, ghats that churn your tum and the famous Bekal fort. I has mentioned here about the visit on this blog before too. Sharing here some pictures of this majestic fort.

We had gone to the Swami Ramdas Ashram, this is an amazing place. There are no temples here. The place reverberates is Ram Naam chanting almost round the clock., Everyone is welcome here with open arms and a warm smile. No one demands any contribution of any finance or physical help in any activity. You are informed about the daily routines of worship like bhajan, aarti, chanting but not forced. Yet one feel like being part of all out there.

It is amazing how much they take care of visitors, Once you walk into the ashram and request for an accommodation. You are provide with a cot, coffee is delivered at the doorstep, breakfast and both meals of the day are served at the dinning hall. In the evening they even provide milk and bread for those who prefer it. The height is they even wash your clothes. Remember this is an ashram yet not a single penny is charged for anything. They will do every thing for those who go there to the chant the divine name. We realize it to be our duty to do what little we can.

One comes back with so much peace and absolutely swept away by their hospitality.

We were served Pal payasa once during the 2 days that we were there. Its the simple rice and milk sweet that is associated with the divinity of naivedya.

Before I go on to the recipe for Pal Payasa, I noted When I was setting up for the shoot how the color dominating was white. Yes I associate white and cream with Kerala. The white of the lungis and the cream of the mundus, was I trying to bring that into my setting unconsciously? May be. I loved the way the plate looked. I did make an exception though to the white of all purpose flour that is used for Kerala paratha, instead I used Whole wheat flour. They turned out softer and tastier.

I really don't need to refer to Pal payasa recipe but yes Manisha makes Ammini's recipe sound like a real special creation check it out here and its fun too read too.

Ingredients

1/2 cup raw rice
4 cups milk
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon saffron strands
1/2 teaspoon cardamom powder
1/4 teaspoon ghee
handful cashew nuts
handful black currants and golden raisins


To begin there is a bit of preparation that we have to do. We need to wash the rice thoroughly and soak it in water for 1/2 hr. It will make cooking easy.

After 1/2 hr. Take a 4 litre capacity vessel, as you will need space for the milk to foam up why its boiling. Add the rice to the pot and milk and keep it on sim for about 15 mins. Though you need not keep stirring just keep a watch, who wants a spillover when you are cooking an elaborate meal. Check the rice, if it looks rice and fluffy and almost ready to burst into a starchy crumble add the sugar at this point. What separates a Phirni from a Pal payasa is this. The phirni is made creamy with the rice crumbling into the milk. A phirni clings to the ladle whereas the rice grains are self respecting in a Pal payasa. A good Palpayasa is sipped where as a phirni is to be licked up. So just when the rice is plump add the sugar. The osmotic pressure change in the liquid lets the rice be but it will help thicken the milk into a richer density. Now while this thickens for another 10 mins in another vessel or the tadka spoon/ katori take the ghee and heat it til it melts. Remove from heat and add the cashew nuts. They will turn a nice golden give it a shake to get an even color on both sides. Add it to the thickening payasa. Bring to a boil once with continuous stirring. Add the saffron strands and put off the heat.

Pal payasa needs to cool completely for couple of hour to be enjoyed thoroughly as a fine speciality. If you like it warm reheat and enjoy else chilled if you prefer it that way.

Fly dear post too the distance land of RCI Kerala to congregate with fellow Kerala lovers. Hurry LakshmiK and Jyotsna are waiting at the Currybazar.

Goodies from Kerala

Hey Friends hope you all had great weekend. In India we had a long one it was 26th Jan the Republic day on last Friday. I took a chance to visit Kerala it was my second visit. A group of us went to an ashram in Kanhangad. In the collage you see here are the goodies our friends the Govindan family had got for us some time ago. The Banana wafers and Cashewnut Halwa were yummy. The same goodies were given to us as prasad while returning from the ashram. It was a wonderful time. We also went to the nearby Bekal fort where the Tuhi re~~ song from the movie Bombay was shot. We tried to figure out the angles they took for the shots as we sang Tuhi re in a chorus.

The pictures in the collage are from my first visit to Kerala Dec 2003. I love the God's own country and had made a scrap book on return. Also you see there some specimens of cardamom, all spice and tea leaves.

Wish I could share these yummies with you but you may oggle at them ;) if that helps!